DESIGN East: XPrize calls for Star Trek tricorder

“Winning the prize would give us the independence to commercialize what
we think is great technology that’s been used in the Russian heath
service since 1999,” said Graham Ewing, chief executive of Montague
Healthcare which has developed a PC-based therapy for a range of
ailments.

“We have a working tech demo, but we have found it difficult to raise funds,” Ewing said.

Winter said the XPrize Foundation is developing an online marketplace where entrants will be able to interact with each other and connect with external resources. “We’re talking to VCs and others with interest in changing health care,” about getting involved in the service, he said.

Entrepreneurs face a range of hurdles delivering on the promise of personalized, preventive medicine, said panelists.

The human body is a complex system of systems not easily address by any one therapy, said Ewing. Other hurdles involve integrating diverse technologies, competition from entrenched players who want to prevent disruptive technologies from entering the market and adverse reactions from consumers, said Goel.

Managed care significantly disrupted the healthcare industry. The Internet significantly disrupted the healthcare Industry. The practice of washing hands significantly disrupted the healthcare industry. It happens. Such disruption is frequently resisted, but at some point, if the disruption is significant enough, the healthcare industry's resistance will become futile. And then players in the industry will just try to find ways to profit from the new order.